The Catholic Church in India has deplored a “fake” letter widely circulated in social and mainstream media alleging a Catholic conspiracy ahead of tomorrow’s elections in southern Karnataka state.

“This is totally unacceptable. This is a blatant attempt to spread lies,” Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.....

Four countries in South and Southeast Asia have laws that ban conversion of their citizens away from the majority religion, and two other countries are considering implementing the legislation, apart from numerous other nations in the region that prohibit blasphemy and apostasy, aimed mostly at Christian missionary work.

On Tuesday, Alliance Defending Freedom's international wing will present a white paper on laws regulating......

The northern state of Uttarakhand has become the seventh state in India to adopt a so-called “anti-conversion law”.

State Governor Krishna Kant Paul signed the ‘Freedom of Religion Bill’ into law on 18 April, just over a month after the bill was approved by the state assembly and allowed to progress to the governor’s office.

Although ostensibly aimed at preventing “forced conversions”, in reality such laws are often used to prevent all conversions – . ......

The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu continues to see outbreaks of religiously motivated violence, with one recent case involving a Christian labourer who says he was attacked by a neighbour who accused him of trying to convert Hindus.

In a report filed with the police, Thangaraj Ramasamy, who became a Christian 15 years ago, said his neighbour had harassed him and.....

Christian families have fled their homes in eastern India after telling police a Hindu nationalist mob had attacked a church fellowship meal, only to be met with attempts to silence them.

Pastor Kasi Ram told World Watch Monitor that only three Christian families remained in the village of Bakel – in Chhattisgarh state, governed by the Hindu nationalist BJP party – after a mob physically attacked attendees.....